Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Souffle Op Rice and Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the base
Boil the rice in water until tender, then pound it finely.
Mix the pounded rice with the egg yolks, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Edge a baking dish with puff pastry and fill it with the rice mixture.
Assemble and bake
In the center, add apple marmalade, quince jam, and brandy.
Beat the egg whites until frothy, then pour over the fruit mixture.
Sift sugar on top and bake at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + quincetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together506 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
-
Cinnamon + quincetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together199 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + appletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Cooked and pounded to form the soft, thick body of the soufflé base.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the rice mixture and add richness and set to the base.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to foam, they lighten the mixture and help it rise in the oven.
- Apple marmalade
- Adds fruit flavour and moisture to the centre of the dish.
- Quince jam
- Adds sweetness and a fragrant, tart fruit flavour to the centre.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until frothy. Whites must be whipped to a stable foam without over-beating or deflating. Air trapped in the foam is what makes the soufflé rise, so under-whipped or collapsed whites produce a flat result.
Swap the quince
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, apple, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Quincethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, apple, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Quince Jelly131 recipes
Rice Cake120 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes